Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police Wednesday busted an inter-state racket allegedly involved in trading illegal cough syrup, and seized 1,680 bottles of 168 litre total volume. The arrested individuals, Jagannath Jena and Anil Kumar Nayak, both residents of Salia Sahi, allegedly sourced the consignment from Kolkata and sold it in retail at different areas of the state illegally, said an official at the Nayapalli police station.
Speaking to reporters ACP Zone V, Gautam Kishan, said the Nayapalli police received a tip-off early Wednesday morning stating that two individuals were waiting to receive a consignment of contraband near Koustuv College square. Following this, a team led by Nayapalli IIC Satyaranjan Pradhan laid a trap in the vicinity. When the duo received the parcel, that contained the cough syrup bottles, from a bus that came from Kolkata, the waiting police party zeroed in on them. When the duo failed to furnish the required documents, the police took them into custody, the ACP added. An officer, privy to the investigation, said a drug inspector has been asked to send samples of the seized cough syrup bottles to a lab to ascertain the composition. The results of the test will help obtain more details about the origin of the cough syrups, as in if those were manufactured in an authorised lab or illicitly made, the officer added. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the cough syrups were procured from third parties and were later sold at higher prices than its actual cost. The medicinal drug, which is usually not available over the counter, is traded in the sly for intoxication purposes.
The Nayapalli police have booked the accused under Section 21 (b) of NDPS act, and produced them before a local court Wednesday for remand. It may be recalled that in May last year, the Commissionerate Police had busted a cough syrup smuggling syndicate having links with cartels in Himachal Pradesh, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata.
DEBADURLLAV HARICHANDAN,OP